Victor Okolo believes that being a great sommelier isn’t about how far you’ve come with wine, but rather how well you work with it. This is certainly true in his case. From humble beginnings of being a barback to developing a passion for wine that led to his training and learning from top sommeliers like Eric Botha, he has developed his own signature as a sommelier.
In 2022, Victor was appointed as sommelier at Salsify at The Roundhouse, Cape Town. Previously, he was a wine consultant for a West African wine collection company and a wine steward at Culture Wine Bar.
An award-winning sommelier, he won the Eat Out WCellar Wine Service Award in 2022. Salsify was also awarded a three-star restaurant award at the prestigious event in the same year.
Victor also has wine qualifications from Cape Wine Academy (CWA) and Wines of South Africa (WoSA). He is also a member of the South African Sommeliers Association (SASA).
In 2024, he was selected for SASA's Team South Africa, an elite group of the nation's most skilled sommeliers dedicated to representing South Africa in international wine competitions.